QT 2 Kings 21:1-9

July 21, 2015

In today’s QT, Manasseh succeeds Hezekiah at age twelve, and then goes on to totally screw up everything for himself and his people for the next 55 years. He rebuilds the high places, alters to Baal, Ashram pole, and consulted mediums, worshipped everything, and even sacrificed his own son in the fire. He and his people did more evil in the eyes of the LORD than the other nations LORD destroyed before the Israelites.

It’s a total disaster. The difference between times of Hezekiah and Manasseh is night and day. This goes to show how important a role a leader plays in any situation, whether it’s church, marriage, friendship, or business, whether or not the leaders and followers who support its leaders are Christ-driven or not will make or break these situations.

In whatever situation I’m involved in, I want to be in situations that make it, so whatever situation I’m in, the most important thing is that I’m walking with Jesus. Without him, I will just mess it up.

Some very interesting things happened yesterday. I woke up, went out, and reflected on everything and everyone that’s in my life, and tried to figure out what it is that I should do that day, or what it is that God wants me to do. For the past 3-4 weeks, I’m been blessed with words and prayers to the point where I could start looking after some other people God has put before in my life, and to reach out to them, and I realized just how much they needed it, and just how much I could finally be used by God in such ways. My application of my life has gone from receiving God’s love from reading the bible and praying, to passing on that love to those around me who needed it the most. Just listening to the problems they were going through, and sharing what God has taught me through the Word drained a lot of my energy and love, but it was right, and God filled me up again soon after with more prayers and his Word. It reminded my last week’s sermon, and that our purpose is to spread the gospel. Even more amazing thing is the way God was using my past experiences to reach out to those who would not otherwise be relatable to some other people without such past experiences. As negative, or unproductive as some of those experiences may have been, HE used it for good. Even more amazing, and something even more hopeful is that I have problems of my own that I cannot solve on my own, and it seems as though God is starting to solve it for me. I just pray that I don’t screw it up in any way, and that I can wait and follow patiently in peacefully wherever HE leads me next. All of this, especially being used by God in such a way, as hard as it is, is showing me a new kind of happiness that only God can give me. And all of it starts and continues with my intake HIS love through Word and prayer.

Application: stay spiritually awake, prepare for his time, and prepare to be used